Westside confirmed for 3rd season

As the second season of Westside heads towards its close, NZ On Air has confirmed it will return to TV3 next year. The third season has been supported for eight episodes, down from this season’s 10.

“The Wests and New Zealand in the 80’s provide such a rich bed for a drama it would be difficult to resist seeing where the writers can take us next. We are thrilled to support this well-made, quintessential kiwi drama again, which along with the previous decisions announced from this round will maintain a range of local drama in primetime,” said NZ On Air Chief Executive Jane Wrightson.

Until the Westside announcement it had been a slow start to the funding year for MediaWorks. NZ On Air had announced over $26 million of support for 24 productions from its first funding round. Only three of those productions supported were for TV3.

Next year’s season of South Pacific Pictures’ Westside will be set during 1982, a year on from the current series. It’s been awarded NZ On Air funding of up to $6,583,500 for eight 60′ episodes.